Composition and applications of a multi-component benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b] dithiophene-difluorothienothiophene randomly substituted polymers for organic solar cells

ABSTRACT

A polymer having two different sets of repeat units consisting essentially of: 
     
       
         
         
             
             
         
       
     
     In this polymer, R1, R2, R3 and R4 can be independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl groups and combinations thereof. Also the combination of R1, R2, R3 and R4 are not all identical and n and o are greater than 1.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional application which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/005,046 filed May 30, 2014, entitled “Composition and Applications of a Multi-Component Benzo[1,2-B:4-5-B] Dithiophene-Difluorothienothiophene Randomly Substituted Polymers for Organic Solar Cells,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to compositions and applications for a multi-component benzo[1,2-B:4,5-B] dithiophene-difluorothienothiophene polymer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Solar energy using photovoltaic effect requires active semiconducting materials to convert light into electricity. Currently, solar cells based on silicon are the dominating technology due to their high conversion efficiency. Recently, solar cells based on organic materials showed interesting features, especially on the potential of low cost in materials and processing. Judging from the recent success in organic light emitting diodes based on a reverse effect of photovoltaic effect, organic solar cells are very promising.

Organic photovoltaic cells have many potential advantages when compared to traditional silicon-based devices. Organic photovoltaic cells are light weight, economical in the materials used, and can be deposited on low cost substrates, such as flexible plastic foils. However, organic photovoltaic devices typically have relatively low quantum yield (the ratio of photons absorbed to carrier pairs generated, or electromagnetic radiation to electricity conversion efficiency), being on the order of 1% or less. This is, in part, thought to be due to the second order nature of the intrinsic photoconductive process. That is, carrier generation requires exciton generation, diffusion and ionization. The diffusion length of an exciton is typically much less than the optical absorption length, requiring a trade off between using a thick, and therefore resistive, cell with multiple or highly folded interfaces, or a thin cell with a low optical absorption efficiency.

Conjugated polymers are polymers containing π-electron conjugated units along the main chain. They can be used as active layer materials for some types of photo-electric devices, such as polymer light emitting devices, polymer solar cells, polymer field effect transistors, etc. As polymer solar cell materials, conjugated polymers should possess some properties, such as high mobility, good harvest of sunlight, good processibility, and proper molecular energy level. Some conjugated polymers have proven to be good solar cell materials. Conjugated polymers are made of alternating single and double covalent bonds. The conjugated polymers have a δbond backbone of intersecting sp² hybrid orbitals. The p_(z) orbitals on the carbon atoms overlap with neighboring p_(z) orbitals to provide π-bonds. The electrons that comprise the π-bonds are delocalized over the whole molecule. These polymers exhibit electronic properties similar to those seen in inorganic semiconductors. The semiconducting properties of the photovoltaic polymers are derived from their delocalized π bonds.

There is a need in the art for polymer solar cells that exhibit increased solar conversion efficiency.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A polymer having two different sets of repeat units consisting essentially of:

In this polymer, R1, R2, R3 and R4 can be independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl groups and combinations thereof. Also the combination of R1, R2, R3 and R4 are not all identical and n and o are greater than 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and benefits thereof may be acquired by referring to the follow description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

None

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the detailed description of the preferred arrangement or arrangements of the present invention, it should be understood that the inventive features and concepts may be manifested in other arrangements and that the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described or illustrated. The scope of the invention is intended only to be limited by the scope of the claims that follow.

“Alkyl,” as used herein, refers to an aliphatic hydrocarbon chains. In one embodiment the aliphatic hydrocarbon chains are of 1 to about 100 carbon atoms, preferably 1 to 30 carbon atoms, more preferably, 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and even more preferably, 1 to 10 carbon atoms and includes straight and branched chains such as methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, t-butyl, n-pentyl, isopentyl, neo-pentyl, n-hexyl, and isohexyl. In this application alkyl groups can include the possibility of substituted and unsubstituted alkyl groups.

“Alkoxy,” as used herein, refers to the group R—O— where R is an alkyl group of 1 to 100 carbon atoms. In this application alkoxy groups can include the possibility of substituted and unsubstituted alkoxy groups.

“Aryl” as used herein, refers to an optionally substituted, mono-, di-, tri-, or other multicyclic aromatic ring system having from about 5 to about 50 carbon atoms (and all combinations and subcombinations of ranges and specific numbers of carbon atoms therein), with from about 6 to about 10 carbons being preferred. Non-limiting examples include, for example, phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, and phenanthrenyl. Aryl groups can be optionally substituted with one or with one or more Rx. In this application aryl groups can include the possibility of substituted aryl groups, bridged aryl groups and fused aryl groups.

A polymer having two different sets of repeat units comprising:

In this embodiment R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl groups and combinations thereof and the combination of R1, R2, R3 and R4 are not all identical. Additionally, in this embodiment n and o are greater than 1.

In one embodiment the aryl groups comprise of heterocycles and fused heterocycles.

In another embodiment the ratio of

in the polymer is around 50:50.

It is theorized that the introduction of the fluorine atom can lower the polymer HOMO energy level and thus will lead to elevated open circuit voltage in photovoltaic devices. The fluorine atom is known to induce better planar molecular conformation in poly-thiophene systems. The formation of a difluorothienothiophene (DFTT) created similar results with better charge transport capability and higher short circuit current and fill factor.

Typically, the number average molecular weight of the polymers is in the range of approximately 1000 to 1,000,000, with ideal polymers having a number average molecular weight in the range of about 5000 to 500,000, and some ideal polymers having a number average molecular weight in the range of approximately 20,000 to 200,000. It will be appreciated that molecular weight can be varied to optimize polymer properties and the inventions of the present disclosure cover all molecular weights. For example, lower molecular weight can ensure solubility, while a higher molecular weight can ensure good film-forming properties.

In one embodiment the conjugated polymer can either be regio-regular or regio-random.

The polymers produced from the present disclosure can be used as active layer material or photovoltaic materials in electronic devices or photovoltaic devices such as photodetector devices, solar cell devices, and the like. Photovoltaic devices, including solar cell devices, are generally comprised of laminates of a suitable photovoltaic material between a hole-collecting electrode layer and an electron-collecting layer. Additional layers, elements or a substrate may or may not be present. In one embodiment the electronic devices are field effect transistors, light emitting devices, and sensors, electrochromic devices and capacitors.

As shown in the examples below the production of a polymer with two different sets of repeat units appears to provide increased performance.

Examples:

List of acronyms used:

-   BDT: Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene -   DFTT: 2,3 -difluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophene -   FTT: 3 -Fluorothieno[3,4-b] thiophene -   FTT(E): 2-ethylhexyl 3 -fluorothieno[3,4-b] thiophene-2-carboxylate -   FTT (K1): 2-ethyl-1 -(3 -fluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophen-2-yl)hexan-1     -one -   PCE: power conversion efficiency -   Jsc: short circuit current -   Voc: open circuit voltage -   PDI: polydispersity index -   M_(n): number average molecular weight defined by (ΣNiMi)/ΣNi where     Mi is the molecular weight of a chain and Ni is the number of chains     of that molecular weight

Soxhlet Extraction: The polymer is washed using a reflux apparatus with different solvents. The solvent and polymer is then heated till the solvent evaporates into a gas, then cools into a liquid. The solvent is then evaporated off and polymer products are produced.

Examples

Example 1=DFTT (45 mg, 0.135 mmol, 1.0 equiv), FTT(K1) (59.6 mg, 0.135 mmol, 1.0 equiv) and BDT8 (275 mg, 0.270 mmol, 2.0 equiv) were dissolved in a mixture of toluene (10 ml) and DMF(2 ml). The reaction solution was sparged with Ar for 20 minutes. Pd(PPh₃)₄ (11.0 mg, 4% mol) was added to the reaction mixture, and then sparged with Ar for additional 10 minutes. The solution was heated to 110° C. overnight. The dark blue solution was precipitated into methanol (120 ml) and the solid was collected by filtration. The solid was then dissolved in chloroform and allowed pass through a short column (silica gel). After concentration by roto-vap, the polymer solution was precipitated into hexanes. The solid was collected by centrifugation and dried in vacuum. The product was a dark blue solid (112 mg, 45.2%).

Example 2=DFTT (50 mg, 0.150 mmol) and BDT8 (152 mg, 0.150 mmol) were dissolved in a mixture of toluene (5 ml ) and DMF (1 ml). The reaction solution was sparged with Ar for 20 minutes Pd(PPh₃)₄ (6.9 mg, 4% mol) was added to the reaction mixture, then sparged with Ar for an addition 10 minutes. The solution was heated to 110° C. overnight. The dark blue solution was precipitated into methanol (120 ml) and the solid was collected by filtration. The solid was then dissolved in chlorobenzene and allowed to pass through a short column (silica gel). After concentration by roto-vap, the polymer solution was precipitated into hexanes. The solid was collected by centrifugation and dried in vacuum. The product was a dark blue solid (114 mg, 88.45).

Example 3=DFTT (30.3 mg, 0.091 mmol, 0.3 equiv), FTT-E (100.2 mg, 0.212 mmol, 0.7 equiv) and BDT (274 mg, 0.30 mmol, 1.0 equiv) were dissolved in a mixture of toluene (10 ml) and DMF (2 ml). The reaction solution was sparged with Ar for 20 minutes. Pd(PPh3)4 (14.0 mg, 4% mol) was added to the reaction mixture, then sparged with Ar for additional 10 minutes. The solution was heated to 110° C. overnight. The dark blue solution was precipitated into methanol (120 ml) and the solid was collected by filtration. The solid was then dissolved in chloroform and allowed pass through a short column (silica gel). After concentration by roto-vap, the polymer solution was precipitated into hexanes. The solid was collected by centrifugation and dried in vacuo. The product was a dark blue solid (238 mg, 92.6%).

Device Fabrication and Measurement

Fabrication procedure of a regular device structure (ITO/PEDOT:PSS/active layer/PFN/Al): The polymer and PC₇₀BM were dissolved in o-xylene in a 1:1.6 (10 mg mL⁻¹: 26 mg mL⁻⁻¹, respectively) weight ratios. The solution was stirred at 70° C. overnight, and then filtered using a 2.7 μm glass fiber filter. Prior to use, a 2.5% volume ratio of 1,8-diiodooctane (purchased from Sigma Aldrich) was added to the solution. The solution was left to stir on the hotplate at 70° C. prior to use.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) patterned glass substrates were cleaned by sonication using the following solvents for each step: acetone, detergent water, deionized water, acetone, and isopropanol. Cleaned substrates were left to dry in the oven overnight. Poly(ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulphonate (PEDOT:PSS) was then spin-coated on ITO/glass substrates at 4000 rpm for 20 s and then annealed at 150° C. for 10 min. The active layer solution was then spin-coated on top of the PEDOT:PSS-coated ITO/glass substrates. The coated samples were left to dry under vacuum for 1 hr. A layer of PFN was deposited prior to electrode deposition. Thermal evaporation was used to deposit the electrode Aluminum (800Å). The samples were encapsulated prior to removing them from the glove box for testing. The devices with active area of 0.041 cm₂ were tested using a 100 mW/cm₂ (AM 1.5G) solar simulator.

Inverted structure fabrication: Indium tin oxide (ITO) patterned glass substrates were cleaned by sonication using the following solvents for each step: acetone, detergent water, deionized water, acetone, and isopropanol. Cleaned substrates were left to dry in the oven overnight. ZnO solution (2.5 mg/ml in BuOH) was spin-coated on top of ITO, and thermally annealed at 120° C. for 5 min. The active layer solution was then spin-coated, and the devices were left to dry under vacuum for 1 hr. Thermal evaporation was used to deposit the electrodes: MoO₃ 12 nm and Ag 160 nm. The samples were encapsulated prior to removing them from the glove box for testing. The devices with active area of 0.041 cm₂ were tested using a 100 mW/cm₂ (AM 1.5G) solar simulator.

Table 1 depicts the solar cell performance of polymers from Examples 1-3.

V_(oc) J_(sc) Fill Factor PCE Polymer Device Structure (V) (mA/cm²) (%) (%) Example ITO/PEDOT: 0.88 11.01 52.6 5.10 1 PSS/CS38: PC₇₀BM/PFN/Al Example ITO/PEDOT: 0.83 11.76 62.3 6.18 2 PSS/CS39: PC₇₀BM/PFN/Al Example ITO/PEDOT: 0.74 14.12 67.4 7.12 3 PSS/CS42: PC₇₀BM/PFN/Al

The process of producing a polymer with two different sets of repeat units was combined with a novel DFTT co-monomer.

The present embodiment describes a process of dissolving 3-fluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno [3,4-b]thiophene in a solvent to create a solution. An initiator is then added to the solution to produce an initiated solution followed by adding a fluorinated chemical to the initiated solution to produce 2,3-difluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene. 2,3-difluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene is then oxidized with an oxidant to produce 2,3-difluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophene. A brominating step then occurs to the 2,3-difluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophene to produce 4,6-dibromo-2,3-difluorothieno[2,3-c]thiophene. 4,6-dibromo-2,3-difluorothieno[2,3-c]thiophene is then debrominated and stille coupled to

In this embodiment the stoichiometric ratio of (f+g)≈h and f, g and h are not equal to 0. Additionally, in this emboidemnt R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl groups and combinations thereof and where the combination of R1, R2, R3 and R4 are not all identical.

In this embodiment the solvent used could be tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether or hexanes.

In this embodiment the initiator used could be n-butyllithium

In this embodiment the fluorinated chemical could be N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide.

In this embodiment the oxidant could be meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid

In this embodiment the bromination could occur with N-bromosuccinimide

Example 4=2,3-difluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene

An oven-dried, 500 ml flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar was charged with 3-fluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene (2.2 g, 13.75 mmol) and anhydrous THF (200 ml) under argon. The solution was cooled at −78° C. under a dry-ice acetone bath. N-butylithium (2.5 M, 6.0 ml, 1.1 eq) was added dropwise. After cooling at −78° C. for half an hour, the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature for 2 hours. The reaction vessel was recooled to −78° C. and (PhSO₂)₂NF (4.8 g in 80 ml THF) was added dropwise. The mixture was warmed up to room temperature again for another 2 hours. After being quenched with 100 ml water, the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was extracted using CH₂Cl₂. The combined organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After removal of the solvent, the white solid product was obtained by column chromatopgraphy (1.08 g, 44.1% GC-MS found m/q: 178; calculated for C₆H₄F₂S₂ 178.22)

Example 5=2,3—difluorothieno[3,4-b]thiophene

An oven-dried 250 ml flask equipped with a magnetic stir bar was charged with 560 mg of 2,3-difluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene (3.15 mmol) and 50 ml methylene chloride. The solution was cooled to 0° C. m-CPBA(0.71 g, 77%, 3.15 mmol) was added to one portion and the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature overnight. The solvent was removed by a roto-vap and the residue was redissolved in 15 ml acetic anhydride and heated for 2 hours. The acetic anhydride was then removed by roto-vap and the product was purified by column chromatography to produce 199.5 mg of product. (GC-MS found m/q: 176 (Calculated for C₆H₂F₂S₂ 176.21)

Example 6=4,6-dibromo-2,3-difluorothieno[2,3-c] thiophene: DFTT

2,3-difluoro-4,6-dihydrothieno[3,4-b]thiophene (195 mg, 1.11 mmol) was dissolved in 10 ml for dry DMF. This solution was cooled at 0° C. In one portion, 592 mg NBS (3.0 eq) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 2 hours then warmed up to room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture was then poured into 5% Na₂S₂O₃ aqueous solution and extracted with methylene chloride. The organic layer was dried over Na₂SO₄. After removal of the solvent, the residue was purified by column chromatography to produce 198 mg (yield 53.5%) of a white solid product. (GC-MS found m/q: 334 (Calculated for C₆Br₂F₂S₂ 334.7)

In closing, it should be noted that the discussion of any reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present invention, especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application. At the same time, each and every claim below is hereby incorporated into this detailed description or specification as an additional embodiment of the present invention.

Although the systems and processes described herein have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Those skilled in the art may be able to study the preferred embodiments and identify other ways to practice the invention that are not exactly as described herein. It is the intent of the inventors that variations and equivalents of the invention are within the scope of the claims while the description, abstract and drawings are not to be used to limit the scope of the invention. The invention is specifically intended to be as broad as the claims below and their equivalents. 

1. A polymer having two different sets of repeat units consisting essentially of:

wherein R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl group, alkoxy group, aryl groups and combinations thereof and where the combination of R1, R2, R3 and R4 are not all identical; and n and o are greater than
 1. 2. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the aryl groups comprise of heterocycles and fused heterocycles.
 3. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the conjugated polymer is regio-regular.
 4. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the conjugated polymer is regio-random.
 5. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the conjugated polymer is used as photovoltaic material in one or more photovoltaic devices.
 6. The polymer of claim 5, wherein the one or more photovoltaic devices are polymer solar cell devices or photodetector devices.
 7. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the conjugated polymer is used as active layer material in one or more electronic devices.
 8. The polymer of claim 7, wherein the one or more electronic devices are field effect transistors, light emitting devices, and sensors, electrochromic devices and capacitors.
 9. The polymer of claim 1, wherein the ratio of

in the polymer is around 50:50. 